Wounded warriors: Injuries and key departures conspire to make this a difficult season for Glasgow

It's an impressive place and the only hiccup on the day was an aging runner doing agonisingly slow laps of the brand new track and gasping as though his next step would be his last. Any allusions to the Warriors running out of puff may be all too appropriate.

Last season was a good one. Glasgow reached the Magners League's inaugural play-offs and had the Celtic League disciplinary board boasted a backbone they would have had home advantage into the bargain. Instead the league officials docked points from the Ospreys this coming season for a misdemeanour committed last March.

Last time out Glasgow opened their account with a cracking win over Munster, the Warriors bested Edinburgh home and away and they played some good rugby throughout. Only in the Heineken Cup did they disappoint.

Still, it's important not to dub Glasgow's season "successful" given they didn't win anything. In fairness Lineen prefers to use the word "progress" and that much was evident, from the emergence of Richie Gray and Jon Welsh to the "Stadium Full" signs outside Firhill for the Edinburgh derby. How to turn those occasional fans into regulars must be occupying most of chief executive Kenny Baillie's waking hours.

"Belong To Glasgow" is the latest marketing slogan the gurus have conjured up and whatever its effect at least Baillie is targeting the right people. With Celtic's year-on-year average attendance down 12,000 last season, the Warriors only need to pick one tenth of that number to boost their gates significantly. Baillie is touting the Warriors as the "family friendly" alternative for sports fans who may have had their fill of footie.

It won't be easy persuading the undecided. The best marketing tool available to any club is on-field success and after last season the fans will hope and expect Glasgow to kick on. They are going to be disappointed.Over the summer Glasgow lost too many key players to repeat last season's third place and they are further hampered by an injury list as long as your arm, with Al Kellock, Chris Cusiter, Johnnie Beattie, Dougie Hall, James Eddie, Colin Gregor and John Barclay all missing the opening month at the very least.

Last season Dan Parks comfortably scored more points than everyone else in the Glasgow squad combined and over the course of his career the Aussie fly-half has scored more points than anyone else in the history of the Celtic League. He is now playing his rugby for the Cardiff Blues, chasing a big payday and some silverware.

Despite missing almost half the season, Thom Evans was still Glasgow's joint top try-scorer last time out (with Bernard Stortoni), and the league's top try scorer the season before that, but his career ended on a stretcher at the Millennium Stadium. So Glasgow will go into the new season without their two top scorers. Furthermore the departure of Kelly Brown, Mark McMillan, Tim Barker and Dan Turner weakens the club's strength in depth. If he is worried by this exodus of talent, Lineen is putting on the bravest of faces.

"It's a big opportunity for a whole bunch of young players," said the coach, "but Scottish rugby expects a lot of these guys very early. Kelly Brown is playing the best rugby of his life now and he's been involved in pro-rugby for six or seven years. It's like saying to (new flanker] Ryan Wilson, 'I want you to be as good as Jerry Collins…NOW!'

"I am really excited by Ruaridh Jackson and Duncan Weir. It was time for Parksy to go. He'd had a good run here. He'd been good for us and we'd been good for him. I am not concerned by his leaving. We've got two young Scottish tens with a lot of strengths, so I'm really happy about that but it's going to take time, there is no doubt about that."

Lineen makes a fair point but the press/public's demands on the youngsters are inevitable given that the Scottish pro-teams tend to lose older, more experienced players every year although these are exactly the sort of player that they need to keep if they are ever to win anything. It's been going on for years. Tom Smith, Jason White, Rory and Sean Lamont, Euan Murray and now Brown, Parks and McMillan have all left Glasgow at the peak of their powers. Imagine how strong the Warriors would be if just some of those names could have been persuaded to stay in town. Leinster don't lose their best players to England and France and had they done so the Dubliners would never have lifted the Heineken Cup at Murrayfield in 2009.

Glasgow's have replaced proven match-winners with recruits from the Scottish club game and English championship who will need time to adjust to the power and pace of the Magners League. There is just one seasoned professional (Federico Aramburu) among the nine new signing; one player that Lineen can throw into the action and expect, rather than just hope, to make an impact.Instead of building on the foundations of last season, Glasgow's coaches are staring at a pile of rubble once again.

That is particularly true at fly-half, the single most important position on the field. Jackson and Weir have a range of talents and each will push the other to greater heights but, as Lineen is quick to point out, it will take time, game time and lots of it, for either of them to grow into a playmaker with the sort of game control that Parks has displayed in recent years.

The move of Glasgow's standout stand-off to Cardiff in the summer begs the question exactly what is Glasgow Rugby for? The answer can't be winning matches because if that was the case Lineen would have fought tooth and nail to keep his match-winner on the books. Parks' move only makes sense if Glasgow's principle purpose is to prepare players for the national squad, a nursery if you like, a development tool for the Scotland team. Parks gets paid by Cardiff Blues while Glasgow are able to train his probable replacements in the Scotland squad, giving them some much-needed game time.

It may be that Scotland has no alternative. With its limited resources this may be the only way to survive. If that is the case it's a shame because while Murrayfield has to keep an eye on the bigger picture, the Warriors fans would love to witness Glasgow actually winning something and that won't happen with such an inexperienced squad.

Coaches

Head: Sean Lineen, right

Forwards: Shane Munro

Defence: Gary Mercer

Conditioning: Stuart Yule

Academy: Iain Monaghan.

Eurorugby ranking

14th (highest 11th, lowest 44th)

Meet the new boys

Alex Dunbar: Selkirk centre failed to spark at U20 World Championships in Argentina but will get a chance at Glasgow.

Chris Fusaro: A small but speedy flanker who must punch above his modest weight if he is to challenge for a starting place.

Ryan Grant: A prop who transferred from Edinburgh and needs to make a bigger impact in the west than he did in the east.

Rob Harley: A West of Scotland lock with a great work ethic who could go a long way.

Ally Muldowney: At 27, Scots-qualified former Moseley lock comes to top flight rugby a little late in but has the soft hands of a basketball player having played for Stoke Steelers.

Ryan Wilson: Another ex-Moseley man, Wilson is a big breakaway who has suffered from shoulder injuries but brings bite to go with the bark.

Federico Aramburu: A 30-year-old winger capped 22 times for the Pumas.

Henry Pyrgos: Young scrum-half from Loughborough University. Has no time to acclimatise with Cusiter and Gregor injured.

Duncan Weir: A little fly-half with a big boot who is worth keeping an eye on.

Part-time players

John Reid (Ayr prop)

James Fleming (Dundee wing)

Paul Burke (Ayr flanker)

Academy contingent

Nick Campbell (Glasgow Hawks), Michael Doneghan (Stirling County), Finlay Gillies (Heriot's), Kerr Gossman (Glasgow Hawks), Stuart Hogg (Hawick), George Hunter (Glasgow Hawks) and James Johnstone (Currie)

Key player

The big man on the sidelines with a miserable look on his face and a stookie on his knee…Al Kellock.

We'll miss ...

Despite Thom Evans' absence there is still only one candidate. Dan Parks won more matches for Glasgow than anyone else. Always raised a cheer at Firhill even when not flavour of the month at Murrayfield.

Up and coming

Take your pick; Jon Welsh, Richies Gray and Vernon or fly-half Duncan Weir.

Best performance last season

The 33-11 demolition of Gloucester at Firhill.

And the worst

The 7-30 home defeat by the Blues.

We like ...

The way that this squad plays for each other and the fact that the fans in Firhill get behind the team. The pack is full of athletes and the opportunity is there for someone to step up to the mark at fly-half. When everyone is fit the starting XV will be fiercely competitive, at least on home soil.

We're less thrilled by ...

Several fringe players who are happy to hide in the shadows, and a lack of finishers.

Please don't mention ...

The horrendous injury list. The squad has the sort of casualties that might be normal after encountering a team of gorillas but is unprecedented before the season has even started. Scotland skippers Al Kellock and Chris Cusiter, left, are among the walking wounded.

Or ...

The lack of experience. Glasgow boasts that the average is just 25 but it is far too young to win anything. The likes of Rob Harley, Richie Gray, Ryan Wilson, Henry Pyrgos and a host of others are all being thrown into the deep end when they're scarcely out the paddling pool.

Our favourite player

The "Heff" gets a mention in dispatches but Argentine full back Bernard Stortoni, left, gives a lesson in commitment.

If money was no object..

Glasgow would sign a fit Fourie du Preez until Cusiter recovers and draft in All Black Luke McAllister to pull the strings.